florida Obituaries

Dr. Dudley Edward DeGroot

85, a retired professor of Anthropology at Eckerd College, died Dec. 7, 2012 in St. Petersburg. Born in Palo Alto, CA, Dr. DeGroot attended Stanford University before transferring to West Virginia University where he played football when his father Dudley Sargent DeGroot was head football coach there. After completing his undergraduate degree at WVU, he earned his Master’s degree at New Mexico University and his Ph.D. at Ohio State University. A professor at Eckerd College from 1964 until retirement in 1989, Dr. DeGroot previously taught at Rollins College, Winter Park and Emory University, Atlanta. He was the Mayor of Maitland, FL in the early ‘60s and Chairman of the Board of the Pinellas Association of Retarded Children in the ‘70s. DeGroot enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17 and served both World War II and the Korean War. He continued to serve 42 years in the Navy in active, reserve, and ready reserve duty, retiring as a Rear Admiral. He is survived by his wife Jeanette DeGroot, by his sons, David, Dudley Bruce, and Neil DeGroot from his marriage to Sally Stroup DeGroot, (deceased); and his grandson William Dudley DeGroot. He is also survived by Jeanette’s children, Lise Crane Plattner, Catherine Crane Evans, James Carey Crane; grandchildren, Melissa and Jaime Knorpel, Alexander and Griffin Plattner, Carson Evans; and sister, Nancy DeGroot, Rohnert Park, CA. Dr. DeGroot is a member of Grace Mountainside Episcopal and Lutheran Church in Robbinsville, NC. Family and friends will gather to share memories of Dr. DeGroot on Sat., Dec. 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Lounge of Westminster Suncoast at 1095 Pinellas Point Drive S. in St. Petersburg. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Dudley DeGroot Men’s Basketball Endowed Scholarship Fund. Contributions can be made on-line at www.eckerd.edu/giving/ or through the mail in the usual manner. If you have any questions about donations, please contact Tom Scheider in the EC development office at schneite@eckerd.edu.

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